“We demand respect from all countries regarding Chilean institutions.” With this phrase, President Gabriel Boric announced this Thursday afternoon that his government will send a formal protest note to Venezuela.
The President’s decision comes after the controversial statements of the Venezuelan attorney general, Tarek William Saab, who suggested that the murder and kidnapping of the former military man and Venezuelan dissident Ronald Ojeda was a “false flag operation” carried out by “intelligence bodies from Chile and foreign”.
In a brief but emphatic intervention from La Moneda, President Boric ordered the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chancellor Alberto van Klaveren, to present the note of protest through the corresponding diplomatic channels.
Boric highlighted his defense of the integrity of Chilean institutions, highlighting that “Chile is a serious country, where the institutions work, where there is separation of powers, and where the Prosecutor’s Office and the Public Ministry are carrying out a serious, responsible investigation. ”.
The Head of State emphasized that if the Venezuelan prosecutor’s office has relevant and real information about the case, it should be made available to the Chilean prosecutor’s office to advance the investigation. “Therefore, if from another particular agency of the Venezuelan Prosecutor’s Office they have serious, real records, they have to make them available to the Chilean Prosecutor’s Office,” said Boric.
“We have to be on the same line”
President Gabriel Boric also highlighted the importance of bilateral cooperation and serious work over unfounded statements. “I constantly hear statements that can be very grandiose, but what has proven to work is serious work, work when there is bilateral cooperation,” he stressed.
Boric concluded his statement by demanding respect for Chilean institutions and emphasizing the need for a clear and firm response to any attempt to denigrate them. “When the institutions of our country are insulted, denigrated or questioned, we have to respond very clearly and firmly, as our chancellor has done, as I am doing.“, he claimed.
“We demand respect from all countries regarding Chilean institutions. And in that, none of us, no one from the government, I would hope that no one from the Chilean State, has any doubt that we have to be on the same line,” he concluded.
“There is effectively no adequate will”
Yesterday, the Undersecretary of the Interior and Public Security, Manuel Monsalve, highlighted that the investigation of the Ojeda case in Chile has an “important” level of progress, with a detainee and identified suspects of Venezuelan nationality. The official stressed that the Government of President Gabriel Boric “is not responsible for commenting on hypotheses about judicial cases.” Here, he added, “the evidence rules” and the task of the Public Ministry is precisely to rule out hypotheses.
For his part, the head of the Public Ministry, the national prosecutor Ángel Valencia, stated that they hope that if the Venezuelan prosecutor’s office has been able to gather information, they will be forwarded for the purposes of enriching the investigation being carried out in Chile. He stressed that there are no more defendants for now, but confirmed that there are two fugitives in Venezuelan territory. This, he maintained, “what the authorities of said country have to confirm.”
The Venezuelan prosecutor, Tarek William Saab, assured that if the Venezuelan suspects are arrested in their country, they will not be extradited to Chile.
The Chilean opposition, represented by Senator Francisco Chahuán (RN), a member of the Foreign Relations Commission of the Upper House, stated that they had already indicated that they did not believe that Venezuela was going to collaborate with the investigation in Chile, regarding the kidnapping. and murder of former lieutenant Ojeda. “Clearly the attorney general’s statements show that Venezuela is not willing to extradite those involved,” he said.
In that sense, it is worth mentioning that President Boric also admitted that “The comments of the Venezuelan prosecutor show that there is effectively no adequate will to be able to resolve a case that is tremendously complex, and by the way, we are going to insist in all instances, without naivety, for this to change.“.